Bowie: Ziggy Plays Guitar, but Not at Coachella

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Bowie: Ziggy Plays Guitar, but Not at Coachella

Ah, Coachella, you are a strange attractor of hype. From My Bloody Valentine to the Cocteau Twins and now to David Bowie's glam-rock alter ego Ziggy Stardust, rumors of knockout headliners that never come to pass have always landed in your lap.

Despite the fact that alien rock star Ziggy Stardust was retired in 1973 and Bowie himself may have retired from music altogether, some newspapers and websites nevertheless engineered the fantasy that both would return to the stage this year to perform Bowie's seminal 1972 classic The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars in its entirety at the Southern California festival.

Further, some crafty individual claimed on a fake Twitter account under Bowie's name that the rock legend was working on new material. The manufactured revelations were exciting enough to compel Bowie to deny them both on his official site this week.

"I'm sure the majority of you saw this tale for what it was anyway: poppycock!" his site explained. "While we're about it, David Bowie does not have a Twitter account."

Meanwhile, here's what we do know. Bowie celebrated his 62nd birthday earlier this month, last appeared on Scarlett Johansson's terrible Tom Waits cover album Anywhere I Lay My Head, and hand-picked songs for his most recent compilation iSelect, released last year. He is also reportedly appearing in the film Bandslam this July. Beyond that, only the Thin White Duke knows the score.